


Fortitude

by CadetDru



Series: Virtues of the Arrangement [6]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Breaking Up & Making Up, Fortitude - Freeform, M/M, Seven Heavenly Virtues, The Arrangement (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-20 09:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19373989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CadetDru/pseuds/CadetDru
Summary: Broken glass is nothing to sneer at.





	1. Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thermos of cool, clear water as an apology and/or parting gift.

Aziraphale wished he had been able to find a black Thermos that would be water-tight enough for Crowley's poison pill. It would only be fitting. It would be more stylish, more fitting of Crowley.  As it was, it looked a little too much of Aziraphale's own style.  Maybe that would work to remind Crowley, to stop him.

Crowley was setting up this ridiculous heist to get the holy water that Aziraphale had refused him so many years before. Aziraphale should have known that wouldn't have been the end of it.  It was a foolish caper.  It wasn't even a necessary one; there were lots of places where it could go wrong for Crowley in ways that wouldn't occur to his co-conspirators.  His whole identity could be given away if he wasn't careful, word could get out that a demon was meddling with holy affairs. It wasn't safe, in any way.

So, the Thermos wasn't black but it was sealed.  That's what really mattered. It didn't have to reflect the personal style of the wielder.  It was enough to exist, in the right or wrong hands.

This had to be the end of it.  He wouldn't discuss it again with Crowley.  Crowley had protested it wasn't a suicide pill, but there wasn't enough holy water in existence for Crowley to take on all of hell.  Poison can only go so far. It would become suicide, one way or another.

He brought it to Crowley, radiating disapproval as he delivered.  He declined a ride, declined further time in Crowley's presence that night.  He felt sick for what he was doing, what could be done with this thing.  None of this had to be this way. Crowley moved too fast, even if spread out over the decades.  It was an inexorable march towards a breaking point that Aziraphale didn't want to think about.  


	2. Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Broken glass on a hot beach

Crowley would go to Hell and back, Heaven and back, earth and back, if it meant that Aziraphale would be safe. Aziraphale would do the same for him, probably, but angels didn't get as many opportunities as demons to walk across broken glass.  The glass healed itself for them.

Crowley didn’t let himself admit it until he was walking through fire, walking on consecrated ground, going counter to his own directives as Aziraphale had done so long before. He knew, deep down, he could never let Aziraphale be disgraced. He gave himself away every time that he interfered to save Aziraphale's human form. He couldn't risk Aziraphale being found out and cast down. He wouldn't be able to help then. Saving Aziraphale from the guillotine was one thing, but a church was something else altogether.

He could see understanding blossom in Aziraphale's eyes in the wreckage of the church.  That knowledge had never been there before.  That was a depressing thought, in and of itself. Years and years of unappreciated effort, finally being noticed. He kept going as he always had. There was nothing else to be done, not if he wanted the angel's holy nature to remain intact.

They were technically still fighting about the whole holy water debate, whether it would be too dangerous for Crowley to be anywhere near such a thing. And here Crowley was, in a church that had been blown up with unattended holy water just in front of them. It could have splashed onto him if they hadn't calculated just where to stand. He knew that Aziraphale took unnecessary risks, but they both had to look out for themselves in their own ways. Both of them were right or wrong, and neither could tell when.

Decades later, he proved that he would in fact return to Heaven if it meant keeping Aziraphale safe. Aziraphale had gone to Hell, but it still didn't seem to match up. Aziraphale had faced down holy water, which took its own leap of faith.  Centuries of exposure, and there was always the chance that Aziraphale was starting his own downwards walk into the abyss.


End file.
